Deadwing
by Kayzar-Hermit
Summary: A series of brutal murders begin occuring in Central, Edward is called in to investigate into the mystery. But without alchemy, can Edward track down a killer who is brutally mutilating his victim's faces? And are the answers closer than he thinks?
1. Chapter 1: A Beech Infests Moll

Deadwing

Chapter.1

"A Beech Infests Moll"

It was approaching 10:48 by the time Major Crawford placed his pen down on the table. Grinning to himself, he placed the final document on a large pile to his left. He stretched his arms, yawning as he did so, feeling more relaxed than what he did at the beginning of the day. He was relieved to have finished all of the arduous paperwork that had been holding him back for the good part of 2 weeks. He grinned another grin before suddenly laughing to himself out loud.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed, jumping off of his seat and landing on the hard floor of his office. Crawford's office was located at the south-western end of Central Command, amongst other offices belonging to other Majors. Before he left, he approached his window, peeking out of it into the night. There was a dull yellow glow from streetlights and various houses that lit up Central. Smiling to himself once again, he grabbed his coat that was hanging on the end of his chair. After sliding his arms into the sleeves, he collected his papers and left his office, walking down the corridor towards the main reception.

"Finished for tonight Major Crawford?" the receptionist asked, smiling as Crawford stopped by, leaning against his receptionist's desk.

"How did you guess?" Crawford said. He then leant forward, taking her hands in his own, "Tell me Mary, when will you let me take you out for the night? Out for a romantic meal, a wonderful play, a… nice few hours in a warm bed…"

"Hey!" Mary exclaimed, cutting him off, "Don't talk about that stuff here! Plus… I seem to remember it lasting less than a few hours!"

"Ooh, low blow there!" Crawford said, "I seem to remember you enjoying it…"

Mary giggled as Crawford began stroking her hand. She looked up into his eyes and leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Mary said, smiling seductively, "Get yourself home,"

Major Crawford smiled, leaning forward and kissing Mary before standing himself up. He winked as he turned around and walked away from the reception, and out the doors of Central Command. Outside the streetlights lit up the pathway with the same dull yellow glow that he saw from his office. It was raining outside, and each droplet became illuminated at is passed by the streetlight's glow. Crawford tugged his coat closer to him in a vain attempt to protect himself from the cold.

"Fuck it's cold," he muttered to himself as he began to walk down the path leading away from Central Command. He found his car parked on the curb in the streets, and he quickly got inside, driving away from Central Command and through the roads twisting all around Central.

In the distance, he noticed a sign reading DIVERSION. Frowning to himself, he turned right, driving down a narrow alleyway. The sides of his car began to scrape the walls of the adjacent buildings next to him. Swearing loudly to himself, he tried reversing his car, only to find that his car had gotten wedged between the buildings.

"Fuck's sake!" he shouted as he turned off the car's engine. He sat there for a moment, contemplating the predicament he had gotten himself into. The doors were stuck against the walls, preventing him from opening them to get himself out. He felt his pockets for any tool he could use to break the window, when he heard a cough that echoed down the alleyway. Alert, he sat up, staring out of his window. "Hello?" he called out loudly, trying to alert the attention of whoever had coughed. He then continued to listen, hearing the sound of a glass breaking, as though someone had thrown a glass bottle to the ground. Crawford felt his heartbeat increase slowly as he began to feel more and more nervous. He pressed his hands up against the glass window of the car. The rain was making it impossible to really see anything, despite the glow from the car's lights and the window wiper's attempt to wipe the rain. All he could see was the walls of the buildings next to him travel down into darkness. There was a large puddle to his left, and the edge of a dustbin to his right, that seemed to be half-swallowed by the darkness.

He then saw the outline of a figure, and his heart suddenly raced as fear rushed through him. The outline was stumbling towards him slowly, almost teetering. Suddenly, the figure entered the light, and Crawford gasped in horror. His heartbeat continued to race as he noticed it was simply a homeless drunk, slowly walking towards his car. Crawford breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his heartbeat beginning to slow down gradually.

"Hey!" he called out, "Excuse me, sir?"

The old man stood still, turning his head towards the source of the noise. His eyes fell upon the bright car and he looked in curiosity as though the car had simply appeared right there in front of him.

"Excuse me sir," Crawford called out, "I was wondering if you could help me? I'm kind of stuck and I need help getting out!"

"Alright, alright!" the old man groaned, "No need to get all huffy about it, I'll get you fuckin' little sorry… don't know how to drive fuckin' cars…. All think they're so…"

The old man trailed off, continuing to mutter to himself.

"Sir, could you grab someone to smash the window with please?" Crawford asked, "I just need to get out, that's all,"

"I know, I know!" the old man shouted indignantly, "I'm getting there, I'm getting there… stupid young kids… don't know how to fuckin' sort their cars out, all yacking about stupid stuff no one fuckin' cares about…"

The old man bent down, picking up a large rock. Crawford watched as the old man slowly stepped over to his car, his figure looking ominous as it was lit up by the car lights. The old man then held up the rock above his head, and Crawford jumped into the backseat.

"I'll get ya out of there… fuckin' lunatic not knowing what to-"

There was a sudden explosion, and Crawford watched as the old man was blown into pieces. Blood sprayed everywhere as it splattered onto the car window, and all over the walls. Crawford screamed as the window wipers began to wipe away the blood, only for it to begin dripping down. In between each swing of the wipers, he could see the figure of someone standing in front of the car. Crawford began punching the back window in a pathetic attempt to free himself, only to hear another explosion. Glass sprayed all around the car, cutting Crawford in various places. Crawford watched as the figure stepped even closer to the car. He then clapped his hands, and Crawford watched as rope made from the walls began to twist themselves into the car, grabbing Crawford and binding him tightly. Struggling to breath and move, the rope suddenly moved, bringing Crawford closer towards the man. He could barely breath as the rope made from the walls constricted his windpipe and bound themselves tightly against his chest. He watched as the man looked up into his eyes.

"Crawford," the man said, in a deep raspy voice as though something was scratching against the back of his throat, "This'll only hurt a bit…"

Crawford watched as the man placed his hand into his pocket, taking out a sharp looking knife. Crawford tried to scream, but was still being bound by the ropes. He watched as the man brought the knife to his face, pushing the knife underneath his scalp. The pain rushed to his head as the man slowly started to slice off Crawford's scalp. Blood began streaming down his face as the pain intensified with every second. His head felt as though it was on fire as it began to sting worse and worse. Suddenly, the man had cut off his scalp, and then began to place the knife behind his ear. He cut a deep cut behind the ear and dragged it around the ear, down Crawford's cheek, and under his chin. He then brought it back around his other cheek and behind his other ear, before going across his forehead and connecting the cut back where it belonged.

"This may also hurt a little bit," the man said, as he clapped his hands together.


	2. Chapter 2: Cabin Fleshes Motel

Deadwing

Chapter.2

"Cabin Fleshes Motel"

He woke up to the sound of rain falling outside. With one eye warily open he could see in the window the torrential downpour of rain falling all amongst Central. With a yawn, he pulled the covers of his bed off of himself, and stretched his arms as he yawned. There was a moment of surprises as he felt the muscles stretch in both of his arms, and with a glace he noticed his right arm there, stretched out in front of him. Smiling to himself, he remembered once again that he no longer had an automail arm, but instead his real arm that he had spent so long searching for. There was a sense of nostalgia still hanging around his arm, as though it was still made of metal. He clenched his right fist experimentally, feeling his muscles tense and the skin over his knuckles go white. Even after so many years there where times when the reality still didn't seem to real.

He launched himself off of his bed, glancing up at the clock on the wall. The clock told him it was 8:39. Frowning slightly, he grabbed his trousers, slipping his legs through them. He then grabbed his shirt and threw it over himself, before grabbing his jacket and heading over to the desk. A mirror was placed perfectly in the middle of the desk, and he looked at his reflection, his long golden blonde hair being the first thing he noticed. Grinning he grabbed a band, reaching back and tying his hair back into a ponytail. He then rubbed his hand across his cheek bones, feeling the stubble of his beard from where he hadn't shaved. He then stared into his own eyes, and for a minute, felt like he was staring at his father's face instead of his own.

He stretched his arms again, yawning as he grabbed a long light brown coat, and an old hat. He then grabbed his keys, placing them in his pocket. He stepped out of his room, locking the door behind him before walking down the corridor towards the stairs. Rushing down the stairs, he noticed the receptionist as the desk look up at him.

"Oh, Mr. Elric, did you sleep okay?" she asked in formal tones. Edward stepped over, leaning against the receptionist's desk.

"As always," Edward replied, "Is it alright to borrow your phone?" he added, indicating the telephone lying on the desk. The receptionist giggled as she looked up at him.

"Don't you always ask that?" she asked. Edward nodded, smiling as the receptionist passed the phone over to Edward. He dialled up the number, holding the phone to his ear as he listened to the dial tone. After three rings, the tone stopped.

"Hello?" a female voice said into Edward's ear. Edward grinned as he held the phone closes to his ear.

"Good morning," Edward said. There was an excited yelp from the phone as Edward's voice was recognised.

"Oh Ed! Sorry of course, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm good Winry," Edward answered, "How is everything in Resembool?"

"Oh things are so, so… Not much to do these days except the odd repair or upgrade. There was this one guy who wanted me to upgrade his automail so it concealed knives! It reminded me of your old automail arm, the way you used to transmute it!"

"That was a long time ago," Ed said, with a slight note of loss in his voice, "No automail arms anymore…"

"I know!" Winry exclaimed, "And I miss it so much! Your automail arm was so gorgeous! It was the best thing I ever made and now it's gone…"

Edward grinned. He could feel the nostalgia of his automail arm begin to creep into his memories, but there was something about Winry's enthusiasm that made it okay to hear. Edward laughed for a moment as he considered the possible idea that he was beginning to miss his automail arm. On the other end of the phone he could hear Winry laughing. There followed a silence which lasted a few moments, until Winry broke it.

"Edward?" she asked. Edward felt his stomach drop as he knew what question she was going to ask, "when are you coming home?" she then asked, and Edward sighed, thinking seriously about the question.

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully, "We only just wrapped up the Cube killings the other day and there's still a mountain of paperwork to get done. I can see about hopefully getting it done today and returning late tonight if that's alright?"

There was an excited yelp from the other end of the phone, and Edward held the phone away from his ear as he waited for Winry to calm down.

"Oh if you could manage that it'd be so wonderful!" Winry said.

"Well, I'll try my best…" Edward replied, smiling. "How's the little one?" he then asked.

"Sleeping at the moment, you want me to wake him up?" Winry then asked him.

"Nah, it's okay. Tell him I'll be home soon,"

"I will. Take care Ed, and be safe,"

"I will. Bye Winry,"

"Bye bye Ed. Love you,"

"Love you too," Ed said, putting the phone back down on the receiver. He smiled out of fondness, despite the heavy weight on his heart. He wondered it if was truly possible for him to see Winry later that night. Sighing to himself he stepped away from the phone, walking out of the hotel and into the streets of Central. He was met with a torrential downpour of rain. He placed his hat on his head, and walked out into Central's streets, towards Central Command.

He arrived at Central Headquarters' with time to spare. All around him various people were walking quickly or running, holding coats or folders over their heads to protect themselves from the rain. Edward briskly walked into the large building, walking down the corridors towards his office. He looked ahead, noticing two military alchemists walking towards him. He frowned as he tried to walk quickly away from them, only to be blocked by the two men.

"Well, well!" one of the alchemist exclaimed, towering over Edward, "If it isn't the Full Metal Alchemist!"

Edward rolled his eyes, too aware of what was coming. The two alchemist were both recently instated alchemist. One was given the name of the Lector Alchemist, whilst the other was given the name of the Red Eye alchemist. Both men were incredibly cocky during their alchemy exam, which Ed has supervised.

"Hold it there Lector," the Red Eye alchemist said, "He ain't no alchemist anymore!"

"Duh!" the Lector alchemist melodramatically said. They both turned and walked off and Edward shook his head, in disbelief of the stupidity of the two men. He walked down the corridor toward his office. He walked inside, yawning as he took his hat off and placed it on his desk. He then slipped his coat off and placed it on the back of his chair before sitting down with his feet up on his desk. He closed his eyes, ready to slip off into his own dream world when there was a knock at the door.

"Mr. Elric?" a voice said from the other side of his office. Edward looked up and noticed a large man standing at his office door. Edward frowned as he put his foot down and Lieutenant Furey walked towards him.

"What is it Furey?" Edward asked. He knew that Furey was bringing him bad news. He only ever had bad news for Edward.

"You're wanted in Armstrong's office. Something's come up."

Edward groaned loudly as he stood up and walked out of the office, heading over towards Armstrong's office. When he stepped in, he noticed Armstrong was busy in conversation with Riza Hawkeye, who was looking grave.

"Ah, Mr. Elric, glad you could arrive," Armstrong said, gesturing towards Edward as he closed the door.

"What seems to be the problem?" Edward said, stepping over to the group.

"Serious business." Armstrong said, "There was a vicious murder last night,"

Edward felt his heart skip a beat. A murder meant an investigation, and an investigation meant he'd have to stay in Central. Edward immediately knew that there'd be no chance of him returning home to Resembool.

"Right then," Edward said in a sigh, "what happened?"

Alex coughed as he cleared his throat and leant against the desk. Edward only noticed how much older he was becoming. He had managed to maintain his physique, but there was something slow in his movements over the recent months.

"A body was found in an alley way in Central. It hasn't been identified yet, but by the looks of it, It won't be identified at all,"

"Why's that?" Riza asked.

"His entire face was cut off. On top of this, Major Crawford has turned up in hospital with severe wounds. Looks like some madman tried to cut off his face and scalp as well."

Edward noticed that neither Alex or Riza grimaced at the gruesome details of the story. Both people were hardened war heroes, who had seen horrible acts of violence before, he concluded.

"So what leads do we have?" Edward asked.

"Whatever the scientists can dig up on the body. Problem is, there's very little to go on, it seems the killer destroyed anything that would've led to the recognising of the body," Alex remarked. Riza lowered her head and placed her hand underneath her chin.

"Why would a killer go to such lengths to stop the victim being recognised?" she pondered. "Surely a murderer would put all of his or her effort into preventing any leads leading up to them, rather than just putting all their effort into stopping anyone recognising the victim,"

"We need to get a testimony from Crawford," Alex said, "we're only guessing that he was attacked by the same murderer."

"Well, let's get on with it then," Edward said, turning around and heading towards the door, "Hopefully we can wrap this case up by tea-time,"


	3. Chapter 3: Befallen Moss Ethic

Deadwing

Chapter.3

"Befallen Moss Ethic"

Edward Elric found himself sitting in the front seat of the car being driven by Riza Hawkeye. As they had left Central Headquarters, they had opted to head to the crime scene to remove the body and find anything that could help the investigation. It was still raining heavily as Edward leaned against the window, staring out onto the streets of Central Headquarters. People were walking through the rain, the rain soaking their coats as they went about their business.

"What've the local police done so far?" Alex Armstrong asked, looking squashed in the backseat of the car. Edward glanced at him in the mirror, noticing how old he was becoming in the recent years. He has still managed to maintain his physical physique that he was so proud of, yet Edward could see the aging in his face.

"The area has been sealed off, and the body covered up," Riza answered, not taking her eyes off of the road. "We'll have forensics move the body soon enough, just as soon as we've had a look first..."

Edward grunted in agreement. He wanted to get the entire investigation cleared up as soon as was possible. There was a part of him telling him that the investigation was going to take many days. The very idea sickened him, despite how unsurprising it was.

They turned a corner, stopping the car as they approached the scene of the crime. Lengths of tape were stretched between posts, stopping any pedestrians and cars from getting any nearer. There were crowds of people standing by the tape, trying to get a look at the scene. Edward grunted as he opened the car door, stepping out into the rain. Riza and Armstrong followed him, shutting the car doors behind themselves as they approached the scene. They crouched down under the tape, approaching the alley way where several officers were busy standing guard. Edward frowned as he got closer, he could see blood splattered against the walls.

"Good morning officers," Armstrong said, shaking the hand of an approaching officer, "mind telling us what we're dealing with here?"

"You know as well as I do what we're dealing with," the officer said, "here I am, being dragged down in the early hours of the morning to see a sight I frankly haven't seen in the worst horror movie imaginable. Blood everywhere on the walls,"

"Have you hidden the body?" Riza asked, stepping forward.

"As best as we can until forensics can take it away. They'll have a hard time, it's a fucking mess…" he took a deep breath of air before scratching the back of his neck, "whoever your killer is, he left a right bloody mess behind. No pun intended,"

Edward rolled his eyes. He could see the officer found his little pun amusing, despite pretending that it was unintentional. Edward walked past him, stepping over towards the body. He could see a solitary hand reaching out from under the cover. He looked up at the walls, noticing what the officer meant by the blood. It seemed to be everywhere. The rain was slowly washing it away, leading it towards the sewers in red rivers. Just in front of the body was Crawford's car, wedged between the walls. The front window had been smashed in, and there was blood all over the vehicle. An odd sight was that of large pieces of the wall twisted themselves into the car, like pieces of rope. Edward bent down towards the body, lifting up the cover and grimacing at the sight before him.

"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed, "we've got a right mess here,"

Armstrong and Riza both stepped over, looking at the body Edward had uncovered. Armstrong gasped and turned away whilst Riza narrowed her eyes in anger. The body was completely mutilated beyond recognition. There was blood everywhere, soaked into the clothes on the body's back. The face was the most gruesome of all though. There was nothing but a bloody mess, as though the entire face had been destroyed. The body smelled bad, and judging by the clothes on the body's back, it seemed like it was just a homeless person.

"You think he was homeless don't you Elric?" Armstrong asked him. Edward nodded and Armstrong sighed, "Indeed, it seems that way. There's something I don't like about this murder though…"

"We need to see if forensics can identify the body," Elric said, standing up after placing the cover back over the body. He knew what Riza was going to tell him.

"Edward, you know that forensics will get nothing. There's nothing to identify, and if he was homeless, then that just makes it all the more harder for them,"

"I'm hoping Crawford will be able identify him," Edward said honestly, "There's so much that doesn't make sense here…"

Edward stood still, contemplating what to do. He nodded to Armstrong who nodded back, taking out a camera and taking photos of the scene. Ed knew he would want to review these later, before the scene is cleared up. He walked over to the car, looking inside and around it.

"An alchemist has been here," Edward noted, pointing to the sections of wall that had stretched out from the wall, "no transmutation circles though,"

"Perhaps the alchemist wore gloves or something?" Armstrong pondered. Edward nodded his head in agreement.

"Or perhaps didn't need to use circles at all…" he mused quietly. He shrugged his shoulders and stood by the entrance of the alleyway, looking out at the crowd. They were all busy trying to get a look at the dead body. Edward frowned, finding their morbid curiosity to be quite bothering.

"We need to begin questioning him as soon as possible," Riza concluded, "hopefully he can identify the body and tell us what happened here. He must have seen something…"

"Right… Let's get the body out, send someone to clear up and then question Crawford." Edward stated, "I'm hoping his eye-witness testimony will prove fruitful,"

Edward walked back towards the car. Riza cast a glance towards Armstrong, who sighed before resuming his task of taking photos. Riza shook her head as she walked back towards the car, getting in the driver seat.

When they arrived at the hospital, they found it was still raining heavily. Edward glanced up at the sky, noting its dark grey clouds moving slowly across. He sighed as he approached the hospital with Riza and Armstrong. As he entered inside the building he took off his hat, letting the drops of water fall to the floor. The three of them approached the front desk, the receptionist looking up at them.

"We're from the military," Edward said, "we're here to see Crawford,"

"Of course," the receptionist said, "here, you'll have to sign this," she passed Edward a clipboard with a sheet of paper attached to it. Raising his eyebrow, he took the pen and quickly signed his name before passing it over to Riza and Armstrong who quickly signed their names.

"He's over at the care ward," she said, leaning over and pointing to her right, "just down the corridor, you'll find his room no problem,"

Edward nodded as he led the way, walking down the corridor and towards the room where Crawford was. When they all entered the room, the sight was shocking. Crawford was sitting up in his bed, busy looking out of the window. His entire face was covered in bandages, except for a small slit for his mouth, as well as some for his eyes. Edward coughed briefly, his eyes fixed on Crawford as he turned his head to look at them.

"Ahh, hello friends," Crawford said. Edward raised an eyebrow. His voice sounded husky, as though he had a cold. Edward was also curious to know why Crawford has referred to them as 'friends'. "please, take a seat," Crawford added, indicating the chairs. Edward turned around and noticed the chairs, watching as Riza and Armstrong grabbed theirs and sat closest to Crawford. Edward grabbed his, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"First off, how are you today?" Riza asked him, folding her arms on her lap as she sat.

"I've seen better days," Crawford answered, "I take it you want to know what happened, right?"

Riza nodded, still sitting quietly. Armstrong grunted as he held his hands together, sliding his thumbs in and over each other constantly. Edward sighed as he folded his leg over the other and crossed his arm.

"I'd heading home when I was diverted into an alley way." Crawford began, "With it being dark, I couldn't really see my way and my car ended up getting stuck. It was quiet silly of me,"

"Wait, what do you mean your car got stuck?" Armstrong asked. Crawford coughed for a moment.

"Ehem.. Well as you see… I was driving home, and I reached a diversion sign, just by West street. It led me down an alley way and I ended up getting the car stuck with no way to drive out,"

"Did you try reversing your car?" Edward asked him.

"I couldn't, the vehicle was pretty much wedged. I wasn't paying too much attention if I am honest… I feel quite embarrassed about it all. Anyway, I was there for a while, and that was when it all happened,"

He stopped for dramatic emphasis, and Edward rolled his eyes.

"I called for help and watched as a homeless tramp lumbered over. He was going to smash the window in, but then he just… exploded. I'm fairly certain it was alchemy, but literally, he exploded, and I watched as… he came over… He destroyed my window with the same alchemy he used to destroy that man, and he then used alchemy to conjure up ropes which bound me. He approached me, and took out a knife." he gradually started becoming distressed, and Riza leaned over as he started breathing more heavily, "he tried to.. Cut off my face…He… started cutting here, went right around here, and back down… He damn near got it off… My face… It's completely mutilated…"

There was a moment of silence as everyone absorbed the words of Crawford. Armstrong looked with concentration, but his hands were shaking ever so slightly.

"He then clapped his hands, trying to perform alchemy on me… Much in the way… you used too," he ominously pointed at Edward, "clapped his hands, and tried to perform alchemy… Only I stopped him you see,"

"Stopped him?" Armstrong asked, "how?"

"I just struggled and went for it… the alchemy he used wasn't strong. I was able to break my arm free. When I did I grabbed the glass and… and… Oh God, you have to understand, he was going to kill me!"

"Crawford anything that happened will be investigated into," Riza said, "understand that you're the victim here,"

A smile appeared on Crawford's face, and he seemed to regain his composure.

"Yes, victim… of course." he took a deep breath of air before calmly exhaling, "I'd grabbed the glass, managed to swing it wide and cut him… It was quite a deep cut mind you… He staggered back and tried to escape by jumping over the car. That was when I escaped and went after him. Using the glass I was able to stab him in the back. I… I killed him. Killed him right there… I don't know who he was or anything…"

Crawford turned his head away, as though he was starting to cry. Edward glanced over at Armstrong who took a deep breath of air before standing up.

"Thank you for everything Crawford," Armstrong said softly, "Your information has been valuable to us. I hope you make a full recovery soon…"

Edward and Riza both stood up, and followed Armstrong as he left the room. The three of them all walked out of the building and towards the car.

"His testimony should check out," Edward said, "Makes sense."

"There's a few things I don't understand," Armstrong mused to himself.

"Like how a guy like Crawford was able to overpower a strong alchemist and kill him?" Riza asked.

"That, but I don't understand, why did the alchemist get away? And if he killed one person by obliterating them, why didn't he do the same to Crawford,"

"You mean why did he keep him alive?" Edward asked. Armstrong nodded and Edward narrowed his yes, "Who knows… But there's something he wasn't telling us… Something doesn't add up at all…"


End file.
